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Group says most oppose Covance
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Both sides in a feud over a planned drug-testing facility in Chandler claim to have public opinion on their side.
A national animal rights group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, on Tuesday released results of an opinion poll stating 56 percent of Chandler residents oppose a contract laboratory planned by drugtesting giant Covance.
The committee has been an ardent opponent of Covance, which released its own poll Monday claiming 62 percent of residents support the company’s plans to build a 400,000-square-foot laboratory along Price Road between Queen Creek and Germann roads.
The opposition group claims Covance abuses test animals and will bring health hazards to Chandler.
The company has already bought a 38-acre parcel in Chandler, but will need to get the land rezoned before construction can begin.
Covance representatives have repeatedly denied the abuse claims and dismiss the opposition group as a fringe group of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
A local political pollster, who was not involved in either survey, said the two surveys are not worth much because they are mainly aimed at furthering each sponsor’s position.
“Both polls are designed to produce a result,” said Earl de Berge, of the Phoenixbased Behavior Research Center. “And so frankly, from my standpoint, I would put them in file 13,” referring to his trash can.
To de Berge, whose firm conducts opinion polls for public and private-sector clients, the polls are not independent measures of public opinion.
Both polls do provide some useful data, he said, since both show a large chunk of Chandler residents are not familiar with Covance or its plans to build a laboratory.
“I haven’t heard anything on that company,” said Chandler resident Guadalupe Rodriguez on Tuesday.
However, some figures in the opposition group’s survey show public sentiment can be swayed its way if the committee can prove its claims that Covance abuses animals and poses health dangers to the community.
Chandler resident Mary Fachman said she’s only familiar with Covance from what’s been reported in the media and doesn’t feel she knows enough to form an opinion.
“But I’m more prone toward the animal rights side than not,” she said.
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